Kloppel’s retirement saddens the staff

After 15 years of working at CMR,principal Dick Kloppel is retiring and everybody is feeling different about the change that is going to happen. Geology teacher Chris Hibbert is sad to see a good friend leave he said.
“He is the only principal I have worked with, and I don’t want another one,” Hibbert explained.
Kloppel has done so much for the school, the teachers, and most importantly the students he said.
“He really loves the kids and he has always been there for them when they needed him,” Hibbert said. “Even the bad kids, he would bend over backwards for anyone at this school.”
Next year change will happen at CMR and with a new principal in the office, everyone is excited and nervous about the change.
“I’m always excited about the change. It is going to be hard for him to leave everybody,” Hibbert said.
Like Hibbert, math department leader Terri Dahl will miss him a great deal.
“I’ve known Kloppel since the day he walked in the doors, which was 15 years ago,” Dahl said.
The new principal will be hired later on this month, and the staff is having mixed emotions.
“He made a lot of changes, but one thing about him that never changed is how he loved his students and staff more than anything,” Dahl said.
A smile appears on Dahl’s face when she talks about her most memorable moment with him.
“Watching him walk in at Homecoming this year,” Dahl said.
This year they had principals, including Kloppel, come in from the past 50 years. The whole student body was touched. This year’s graduation ceremony is going to be a bit bigger than normal.
“It’s always hard to say goodbye,” Dahl said. “Especially saying goodbye to someone who you are so close with.”